


December 1: love in the north (pole)

by dizzy



Series: farewell and gtfo 2016 daily fic advent [1]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 13:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8716468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: prompt: dnp are two (oddly tall) christmas elves in santa’s workshop





	

They’re only put together to work in the beginning because someone assumes they’re brothers. “Oh, look, you’ve got family here already!” The overly chipper human resources liaison had said. “Phil, I didn’t know you had a brother!” 

Phil’s always been in Board Games. Dan was in Video Games to begin with, but got transferred when his supervisor realized he spent far more time playing them than assembling them. 

“I’m not related to him,” Dan had said with disdain on that very first day they were paired up in Board Games. “And that’s racist. All tall elves aren’t related.” 

“But your hair-” In admist a sea of heavily products quiffs with swirly tips styled to show with their regulation work hats, Dan and Phil both have hair straightened and brushed across their foreheads.

“Do you think we’re born with fringes?” Dan sneers at her. 

The liaison frowns at him. She assigns him the station alongside Phil anyway, probably out of spite. 

“Shut up and don’t talk to me,” Dan mumbles. 

“All right,” Phil says, kindly. Dan seems like a very grumpy elf but Phil knows he’s always nervous when he’s going somewhere new with people he doesn't know, so he figures maybe Dan is just scared.

*

Dan is definitely scared, Phil decides after just one week of working together. 

He’s scared but he seems very much not to want anyone to know it so Phil decides the nicest thing to do is to pretend he doesn’t. 

Every time Dan yells at him, he just smiles. Every time Dan points out how Phil has messed up, Phil just thanks him. Every time Dan says he’s too slow or that he’s not got the tune to the carol he’s humming right or generally just seems to indicate that he is rather not fond of Phil’s presence beside him, Phil just thinks to himself that all Dan probably needs is a nice warm hug. 

When Dan is ready to admit that, Phil would be happy to give him a hug. Because he’s nice, of course, that’s what everyone always says. Phil Lester, he’s just the _nicest_ elf. 

(And also maybe because Dan is the prettiest elf Phil has ever seen, and because it’s nice to have someone that he has to look ever so slightly up after a life of all the other elves being shorter, and because when Dan is concentrating very hard his cheek dimples in a way Phil would like to kiss, and also maybe because Dan has legs that go on forever in the black leggings he wears and Phil thinks they’d look even better without the leggings, wrapped around his waist.

Phil is a nice elf, but he’s not that nice.)

*

Every afternoon at half two, they’re given an afternoon tea of cookies and warmed eggnog. One of the kitchen elves brings it around on a tray that appears to only hold six mugs, replenishing itself every time one is removed. 

Phil is affronted one day when Dan just reaches out and snatches his eggnog away. “You can’t have that,” Dan says. 

“Why not!” The mug looks warm and smells spicy, just the way Phil likes it. 

“Because I’ve been here for a week and I know that every time you drink eggnog, two hours later you’re running off to the toilets and then I have to do twice the work for the next half hour while you sort yourself out. I’m doing this to spare both of us. 

Phil’s face goes pink. “What?” 

“You’re lactose intolerant, idiot.” Dan’s words are unpleasant but his voice is kind. “Lay off the nog and cocoa and your stomach will thank you.” 

“But it’s so tasty.” Phil keeps pouting. 

Dan gives him a withering look, so Phil goes back to work. 

The next day, the kitchen elf with their tea gives Phil a cup with a special band around it. “Lactose-free nog, as requested,” she says with a cheery smile, then walks away. 

Phil looks at Dan and Dan looks out the window. “Don’t,” Dan says. 

“I was just-” 

“Don’t,” Dan says again. 

Phil smiles and shrugs. “Thanks, though.” 

*

By the end of the first month, Phil is fairly sure that they’re actual friends. 

When Phil drops things and they roll underfoot now Dan will pick them up, and sometimes when Phil is singing a carol Dan will join in too. 

“We sound good together,” Phil says once, grinning over at Dan. 

Dan rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t stop singing. 

“You’ve got a nice voice,” Phil says. 

Dan’s dimple flickers into existence and then out. It’s Phil’s favorite game now, to make Dan smile in a way that makes it show up. 

*

When other people are rude to Phil or get impatient with him, Dan snaps at them now. It makes Phil feel warmer than the warmest hearth ever has. 

He so badly wants to make Dan feel warmer too. He spends the long months that crawl toward Christmas trying to learn Dan inside and out. He eventually decides that all it really takes to make Dan happy is to want to _listen_ to him, to make him feel listened to. 

It’s like so many wishes people have; not just for a thing to happen but for a feeling to happen with it, to give it a touch of realness. Dan wants to _want_ to be heard, and Phil wants to hear him. 

So he listens as much as he can and Dan starts talking more and more. He tells Phil about books he’s read and television programs he’s watched and the video games he used to play at his last assignment and all sorts of things about the world outside of theirs that Phil has always sort of wondered about but never enough to really find these things out himself. 

Dan makes _everything_ sound fascinating, though. The end of the work day becomes Phil’s least favorite time of day, and judging by the way Dan lingers in the coat room before they leave he thinks Dan might feel that way too. 

Maybe that’s why Phil finally works up the nerve to say, “Do you want to go on a walk with me?” 

Dan looks surprised and then he ducks his head down shyly before looking back up with bright, clear eyes and says, “Yeah. I’d like that.”

*

“I just don’t want to be doing this,” Dan says. 

It’s late at night. They’re sat on one of the gingerbread roofs. It makes the air smell delicious and Phil is sad they can’t eat it. He tried a lick once but the weather-proofing sealant doesn’t taste nearly as good as the scent would imply. 

“What is it you want to be doing, then?” Phil asks gently. 

They’re just talking. They do so much of that. Long days wind into long nights now. Work is harder as it grows nearer to Christmas. 

Phil can’t wait for January and the break it brings. Shorter work days, time to breathe and rest again. He and Dan will have even more time to spend together. 

“I don’t know,” Dan says. “I guess that’s the problem. I know what I don’t want to do, but I don’t know what I do want to do.” 

“Oh.” Phil frowns. That does sound like a problem. 

“What about you? Don’t you care? Don’t you want to do more?” Dan asks. 

Phil shrugs and looks down. “Haven’t really thought about it. My brother’s an accuracy tester, but you’ve got to have good aim for that.” 

“I think you’d be a good games designer,” Dan decides. “You’ve got a mind for coming up with things no one else would think of.”

They lapse into silence. The stars overhead seem to sparkle more strongly. 

Phil shuffles closer to Dan. “Cold,” he says. “And you’re warm.” 

“You’re wearing like, four layers,” Dan says. “You can’t even feel me.” 

“But I can smell you,” Phil says. “And you smell warm.” 

“You’re so weird.” Dan bumps their shoulders together. 

He doesn’t sound unkind at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. 

*

They’re three-quarters through another hectic mid-December day when Phil turns to Dan and says, “I wanted to be a reindeer trainer.” 

Dan’s face beams in a smile. “Phil, you’d be perfect at that.” 

He probably won’t ever be one. He’ll probably spend his whole life assembling board games, fitting tiny pieces into their tiny plastic slots, making sure each square and letter is correct. But _Dan_ thinks he’d be good at it, and that’s a very nice feeling.

*

“I’m so tired I think my fingers are going to fall right off,” Dan says. 

Phil reaches over and picks up Dan’s hand. He touches each finger in turn, strokes from fingertip to knuckle. 

Dan holds his breath while Phil does it. Phil notices, the same way he notices his own heart suddenly beating very fast. He didn’t think this through. 

He means to say something funny like _yes, you’ll probably lose a few_ but instead what comes out is a soft, “Nice hands.” 

And they are. They’re nice, and Phil is still holding them, because his body won’t listen to his brain right now, there’s some kind of other voice suddenly shouting much louder. (His heart, Phil thinks, and that’s - that’s new.) 

*

Dan tastes like peppermint candy cane the first time they kiss. He’s been sucking on it for hours, driving Phil to the ends of his wits at a time when neither of them need to be distracted. 

“What would you want for Christmas, if you could have anything out of the bag?” Phil asks, making idle conversation as they meander out the door. 

They’re having dinner together, and then they’re going to finish watching one of those lovely anime programs Dan’s introduced him to. As tired as Phil is, he can’t imagine ever not wanting to do things with Dan. 

“What I want,” Dan says, looking up at the sky. A snowflake lands on the tip of his nose and it’s awfully cute. Phil just wants to reach out and brush the smudge of moisture away. “Is not in Santa’s bag.” 

He looks at Phil and it feels like a look that means something more than most looks do. “If you tell me what it is, I’ll try to find it for you.” 

“Phil,” Dan says, a touch desperately. He stops walking and stands in front of Phil. “Really?” 

“Yes,” Phil answers, without even really knowing what the question is supposed to be. He trusts Dan, that’s all. He trusts Dan with everything. 

And he’s right to trust Dan, because what Dan does next is step in close and touch Phil’s face with chilly fingertips and kiss him right on the mouth. Phil gasps and then it’s _wet_ and _warm_ and _so, so nice_. 

Even after they stop kissing Dan keeps his arms around Phil like he wants the hug to never end. “You know what I want?” Phil asks. 

“What do you want?” Dan’s nose is tucked up against Phil’s neck. It’s perfect there. 

“A never ending hug,” Phil says out loud. He’s being silly, but he doesn’t care. “Would you hug me forever?” 

“Forever.” Dan’s smile is a little silly too, but that is also nice. “Please.”


End file.
